Outdated voting machines are said to have falsified the outcome of the last presidential election in Brazil, claims the party of defeated Jair Bolsonaro. Your chances of overturning the results are very slim.
Outdated voting machines are said to have robbed Bolsonaro of victory. That’s what his party claims.
(Reuters/Bloomberg) Jair Bolsonaro’s party contested the results of the lost presidential election in Brazil at the end of October. She filed a complaint with the electoral authorities, calling into question left-wing politician Lula da Silva’s victory. This is to take over the baton from the incumbent Bolsonaro at the turn of the year.
Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party claims that some outdated voting machines have led to wrong results. She demands that the votes cast with them be annulled. If only the new models of machines are considered reliable, conservative President Bolsonaro would be re-elected with 51.05% of the vote, the party said.
The electoral court replied that the same devices were used in both ballots. Therefore, the allegations will only be considered if the first ballot is also reviewed, the court’s president, Judge Alexandre de Moraes, wrote in his decision. He gave the Liberal Party 24 hours to decide how to proceed. Morae’s decision puts the Liberal Party in a difficult position, as challenging the results of the first round would likely affect the election of many of its members in Congress.
The party and the outgoing president are unlikely to get far with their lawsuit. Lula’s victory has been upheld by the Supreme Electoral Court and recognized by Brazil’s leaders and international allies. Still, this challenge to the results could give a boost to a small but dedicated protest movement that has so far refused to accept the outcome.